Lurking just beneath the surface of estuaries across many parts of Asia are archerfish, natural-born assassins who overcome a shocking number of challenges as they shoot targeted streams of water at nearby insects, knocking them down into the water where they become easy dinner targets. Wired takes a look at the seemingly impossible physics of the archerfish’s weapon of choice, from distorted optics (have you ever looked up from the bottom of a pool?), to the effects of gravity, to a clever tactic that the creatures use to increase the speed of their aquatic bullet as it approaches its target.
The incredible physics of the archerfish, nature’s aquatic sniper
If you’re reading this and you’re a beetle with a penchant for hanging out near brackish water, be on the lookout.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- Apple raises the Mac Mini’s starting price
- The craziest part of Musk v. Altman happened while the jury was out of the room
- Dyson put someone else’s motor in its robot vacuum
- Some of Xteink’s credit card-sized e-readers are losing their best feature
- Dreame’s rocket-powered car can do 0–60 in 0.9 seconds because you can just say things now
.png){kind=link}